Harnessing the Power of Wax

After some different tests attempting to synthesize color into the plain white wax, a final technique was established.  I found that instead of cutting off a piece of crayon and putting it into the hot wax, that it was better to hold the crayon over the mold and pour the hot wax over it.  This allows some of the color to be pulled from the crayon but not over saturate the wax block. Colored wax, not an issue.

With the technique for coloring wax, and wax in general down, I could start to better recognize what I wanted to achieve with my final casting.  Roofs. The connection between what is underground and above ground.  The connection I have been struggling to establish.

I decided a 9 x 9 mold would be an adequate size for the casting, giving enough space to place the colored blocks into the wax.  The process is relatively simple except for the fact that wax being placed into hot wax is not exactly the best idea.  It starts to melt.  Some shapes began to go limp, so I had to pull them out and allow the wax to cool for a few minutes before placing them in. So after a thin layer of wax starting forming on the surface the blocks were placed.  I had earlier decided that wherever the pieces of colored wax would protrude above the clear wax would be where the building and ground would relate.

Success! After letting the wax set up and harden for about an hour I trimmed away the sides of the mold, allowing the sides of the wax to get air and even further dry out. Shortly after the rest of the mold was removed and I was left with a large chunk of wax with other pieces of colored wax sticking out of it into space.  The effect of this casting is even further heightened when placed on a light table, or simply illuminated from behind.  When the clear wax is lit up it becomes more transparent.  On the interior of the mold there are pieces that do not come above the surface, they can be seen when light is put to it giving a sense of spatiality to the mold.

The finished product.

Finally the battle with wax came to an end.

Please watch the floor near my desk and surrounding areas...its slippery.

Apparently Wax Isn't Any Easier

Please, don't touch my crock pot full of hot wax.

Wax is fun, building the mold on the other hand lacks the level of 'fun' involved.
It's tough to try to envision what this wax sculpture will look like as the mold is being built, but it's that sense of the unknown that I find quite intriguing.  Once the molds built its up to the wax to do the rest. Cool down. Harden. Be removed...seems simple.
Luckily I sealed the edges of the mold well enough that there was no wax leaking out everywhere.  But, unfortunately how the model was planned to come out did not occur.  What was supposed to come out as one large piece, came out in 9 different pieces.  The chipboard did not remove from the interior sections of the model as well as the outer boundaries, thus causing cracking.  Through this event a new way to explore the space formed in between the separate pieces was brought to mind.



If it's in 9 pieces...make it back into 1, but how?
      Adding more wax. Of course.
But!,
This time with some color added with crayons that are melted into the wax before it is poured.  Currently I am experimenting with different ways to synthesize the plain wax and colored wax so not to be over powering or obnoxious to the viewer.

This method of model making, or 'drawing', is actually quite enjoyable.  It allows the mind to remove itself from normalities, such as drawing on paper, to what a drawing is in the space that is the paper...or in this case, the space of........whatever you mind desires.

And The Mayhem Continues

After choosing reasonable methods of accomplishing the drawings without paper, the actual process began...and has yet to end.  The first of attempt was one done in wire

Working with wire in concept should be easy, right?...not.  A rather frustrating process of bending and manipulating the wire.  When one piece of wire is bent, another one will bend with it. Tediously bending them all into place. The image depicted is the floor plan of my building..now onto wax.

When Paper Becomes to Typical...

...do drawings without it. Drawings without paper, funny concept. More so an intriguing way of being able to explore different mediums of 'drawing' and remove yourself from the normal mechanics of architecture school.

My weapon of choice for this adventure is wire, a low gauge floral wire, and wax, a 4 pound block of it for now.

this should be interesting.

Irrelevantly Relevant

Not so much does this short film have to do with process, or studio, but it deals with the way one can trick the mind, and do it through use of lenses and techniques in photography.

This short film is a stop motion animation, one consisting of over 25,000 individual photos. Take notice of the way the artist uses focus and camera angle to captivate the viewer and place an illusion on what is real.

Follow me through the portal...

and the stacks of trace grow larger

After finally beginning to come to conclusions of how to enter into the building, and how to interact with the site, a few steps backwards needed to be taken.  I thought I had figured it out, but then realized that my main source of circulation was descending through the library, into the theater area....can't happen.

Needing a more clear separation of public vs private entry became essential.  This and a need for another means of circulation brought up new ideas.  A clarity of the interior form of the building becomes more clear as you descend into the space.  The more private stair coming to a terminus at the library level, and the other, public, entry leads you down to the theater level, only being able to view the library and archive from a far but without any direct way of accessing it.

Another Media of Abstraction

Check out the film that I have created.  Let the music aid you on the journey.

Enter into the other universe here!

Along Comes Abstraction

so the progression of ideas seems to be at a standstill and unfortunately a jumble of different ways to approach this film archive and theater are running circles around my desk.  is it curiosity? is it revealing? at what rate do things become revealed?...overload.